Error in NPT equilibration in protein-ligand complex

@jalemkul

GROMACS version:2022.2
GROMACS modification: No

Hi Im doing Protein-NonProtein MD simulation for the first time and following the tutorial(Protein-Ligand Complex) with the same example files.

I am following the tutorial as it is but facing a few problems.

  1. The "jz4.gro" gives a distorted structure (shown below). while the program gmx editconf -f jz4_ini.pdb -o jz4.gro got executed without any error.

  1. program for NVT equilibration got executed successfully with out any error but NPT equilibration gives warning flags and shows error. Please find the attached log below.

gmx grompp -f npt.mdp -c nvt.gro -t nvt.cpt -r nvt.gro -p topol.top -n index.ndx -o npt.tpr

Ignoring obsolete mdp entry ‘title’
** Ignoring obsolete mdp entry ‘ns_type’**


** WARNING 1 [file npt.mdp]:**
** The Berendsen barostat does not generate any strictly correct ensemble,**
** and should not be used for new production simulations (in our opinion).**
** For isotropic scaling we would recommend the C-rescale barostat that also**
** ensures fast relaxation without oscillations, and for anisotropic scaling**
** you likely want to use the Parrinello-Rahman barostat.**


** Setting the LD random seed to -672334401**


** Generated 100032 of the 100128 non-bonded parameter combinations**
** Generating 1-4 interactions: fudge = 1**


** Generated 65937 of the 100128 1-4 parameter combinations**


** Excluding 3 bonded neighbours molecule type ‘Protein_chain_A’**


** turning H bonds into constraints…**


** Excluding 3 bonded neighbours molecule type ‘JZ4’**


** turning H bonds into constraints…**


** Excluding 2 bonded neighbours molecule type ‘SOL’**


** turning H bonds into constraints…**


** Excluding 1 bonded neighbours molecule type ‘CL’**


** turning H bonds into constraints…**


** The center of mass of the position restraint coord’s is 5.887 5.889 2.782**


** The center of mass of the position restraint coord’s is 5.887 5.889 2.782**
** Number of degrees of freedom in T-Coupling group Protein_JZ4 is 6582.71**
** Number of degrees of freedom in T-Coupling group Water_and_ions is 61749.29**


** The largest distance between excluded atoms is 0.436 nm**


** Determining Verlet buffer for a tolerance of 0.005 kJ/mol/ps at 300 K**


** Calculated rlist for 1x1 atom pair-list as 1.294 nm, buffer size 0.094 nm**


** Set rlist, assuming 4x4 atom pair-list, to 1.221 nm, buffer size 0.021 nm**


** Note that mdrun will redetermine rlist based on the actual pair-list setup**


** NOTE 1 [file npt.mdp]:**
** Removing center of mass motion in the presence of position restraints**
** might cause artifacts. When you are using position restraints to**
** equilibrate a macro-molecule, the artifacts are usually negligible.**



** Reading Coordinates, Velocities and Box size from old trajectory**


** Will read whole trajectory**
** Last frame -1 time 100.000 **


** Using frame at t = 100 ps**


** Starting time for run is 0 ps**
** Calculating fourier grid dimensions for X Y Z**
** Using a fourier grid of 52x52x52, spacing 0.151 0.151 0.151**


** Estimate for the relative computational load of the PME mesh part: 0.20**


** This run will generate roughly 19 Mb of data**


** There was 1 note**


** There was 1 warning**


** -------------------------------------------------------**
** Program: gmx grompp, version 2022.2**
** Source file: src/gromacs/gmxpreprocess/grompp.cpp (line 2661)**


** Fatal error:**
** Too many warnings (1).**
** If you are sure all warnings are harmless, use the -maxwarn option.**

How to fix this error or should I ignore it? Is it possible to trace back mistakes if I have done in any of previous steps?

Thank you so much

The distorted coordinates mean your coordinate file (mol2) and stream file from CGenFF may somehow be in a different order. Make sure the atoms are consistently listed.

The warning about the Berendsen method can be eliminated by changing the barostat to e.g. C-rescale.

I encountered the exact same error as Shivam, and when I went into the npt.mdp file provided by the “mdtutorials” website, to change the below line from:
tcoupl = V-rescale ; modified Berendsen thermostat

to this:
tcoupl = C-rescale ; modified Berendsen thermostat

I received another error by running the same command as before (gmx grompp -f npt.mdp -c nvt.gro -t nvt.cpt -r nvt.gro -p topol.top -n index.ndx -o npt.tpr).

The new error was:

ERROR 1 [file npt.mdp, line 49]:
Invalid enum ‘C-rescale’ for variable tcoupl, using ‘No’
Next time, use one of: ‘No’ ‘Berendsen’ ‘Nose-Hoover’ ‘yes’ ‘Andersen’
‘Andersen-massive’ ‘V-rescale’

How do I address this issue so that I can actually perform an mdrun for this npt.mdb file?

c-rescale is a barostat, not a thermostat. As it says in the error, it is not one of the possible options for tcoupl.

Read Molecular dynamics parameters (.mdp options) - GROMACS 2024.2 documentation to make sure that your settings are correct and that you understand them.

Alright, thank you very much.

The issue was, as you mentioned, not in setting tcoupl = V-rescale but the issue was rather in pcoupl = Berendsen which is not an ideal barostat I suppose.

Correct. Berendsen used to be a popular barostat to quickly reach the target pressure (suitable for equilibration), but it does not sample the correct ensemble.

C-rescale (introduced a few years ago) also reaches the target pressure quickly, but has correct volume fluctuations. Therefore, c-rescale is recommended for both equilibration and production.